Byways in Danish transportPay, working conditions and living standards of Bulgarian, Romanian and Macedonian lorry drivers in Denmark and Western Europe. A report on the free movement of labour in the transport sector.

Romanian drivers at long-term lorry

park in Taastrup

Prepared by COWI for 3F Transport and the Danish Transport and Logistics Association (DTL) with financial support from the Danish Working Environment Authority.

Every day more than four thousand foreign lorries

cross the borders of Denmark. An increasing num-

ber of them are driven by Bulgarian, Romanian or

Macedonian drivers.

The use of Eastern European lorries and drivers on

Danish roads has featured on many front pages and

has been the subject of many television news sto-

ries in recent years – often with negative headlines

about infringement of rules or brief stories about

wretched living standards and poor pay and work-

ing conditions.

This report portrays actual conditions on the basis

of information gathered from the drivers them-

selves, the objective being to provide critical and

constructive input to the debate on the EU single

market and the creation of a framework that will

ensure fair competition and better working condi-

tions in the European transport sector.

Erik Østergaard, CEO, Danish Transport and Logistics Association,

and Jan Villadsen, General Secretary of 3F Transport

Autumn 2015: European lorry cuisine

The life of drivers and the Danish Balkans

Who transport goods to people living in Den-

mark, and under what conditions do they do

so? The various EU enlargement processes and

continual liberalisation of the EU transport

market have made it increasingly difficult to

answer these questions.

Both in Denmark and in the rest of Western

Europe it was initially lorries and drivers from

Poland and the Baltic countries that entered

the transport market. Nowadays, Bulgarian, Romanian and, to

some extent, also Macedonian drivers are taking over.

Based on questionnaires completed by 225 Romanian, Bulgar-

ian and Macedonian drivers during breaks in Denmark in the

week from 12 to 18 October 2015, we can now paint a precise

picture of the working and living conditions of the steadi-

ly growing group of drivers from the Balkans who provide

transport services in Denmark and the rest of Western Europe.

The consulting firm COWI prepared the questionnaires and

processed the responses. In brief, the conclusions show that

Bulgarian, Romanian and Macedonian drivers working on

Danish roads:

• Earn an average of DKK 11,000 a month

• Live in their lorries for average periods of at least seven

weeks at a time

• Are frequently put under pressure to break rules and regu-

lations

• Are de facto working as posted workers in Western Europe

under conditions applicable in their home countries

• Never carry loads of goods in their home countries

This booklet provides an overview of the conclusions set out in

the more detailed report prepared by COWI. The COWI report

is available from the Danish Transport and Logistics Associa-

tion (DTL) and 3F Transport.

Romanian heating system in the lorry cab

When Mihai from Romania and Simeon from Bulgaria drive a

lorry in Denmark or another country in North-western Europe,

they typically do so at monthly wages of EUR 1,500. This is

between a third and a half of the wages earned by local driv-

ers, ie Danish, Swedish, German, Dutch, Belgian and French

drivers.

Apart from Denmark, most of the driving took place in

Sweden, Norway, France, Germany and the Benelux countries;

never in the drivers’ home countries.

COWI COMMENTS: The majority of the respondents paid

tax in Romania or Bulgaria. No respondent paid tax in Den-

mark, although 12% of the drivers stated that their employer

was based in Denmark (office and fleet management).

77 percent of the drivers stated that they worked for an employer based in

Romania or Bulgaria.

47 percent stated that at the time when they completed the questionnaire

they had been away from home for more than seven weeks, and 14% stated that

they had been away for more than eleven weeks.

88 percent 88% stated that they had been away from home for more than two

weeks.

74 percent of the Bulgarian, Romanian and Macedonian drivers stated that

they earned between 1,100 and 1,900 euros a month. The rest of the drivers earned

either more or less.

89 percent of the drivers were employed drivers, while 11% owned, rented

or leased their lorry, which makes them self-employed hauliers or rather ’false’

self-employed hauliers, since they do not have any control over their own business

and income.

Driving at a third of normal wages

27 percent stated that they received instructions from a person located in

Denmark.

23 percent stated that they were employed in a country other than those two

countries.

12 percent had an employer based in Denmark.

The vast majority of the drivers 88 percent stated that they slept in their lor-

ries most nights.

71 percent of the drivers stated that they received instructions from a person

located in Bulgaria or Romania.

Bulgarian parallel and satellite dish community in Denmark

Poor social security

In terms of social security, Macedonian, Bulgarian and Romanian drivers are consid-

erably disadvantaged as compared with their Danish and Western European coun-

terparts. In almost all cases, the social security of the drivers was that of their home

country.

• 97% of the drivers stated that they worked for an employer who paid healthcare

(incapacity) insurance and contributed to a pension plan.

• 40% worked for an employer who paid contributions to an unemployment insur-

ance scheme.

• 83% received holiday

pay

• 31% received pay when

on sick leave

• 2% of the drivers stated

that they assumed they

would receive payments

from Denmark in the

event of sickness or

unemployment.

Doing the laundry at a lorry car park in Jutland

Pressure on drivers to break rules

A BG or RO country code on a lorry typically means more than low-

er prices and pay and pressure on working conditions: a large pro-

portion of the Bulgarian, Romanian and Macedonian drivers stated

that they were often under pressure to break rules and regulations

• The vast majority of the drivers in the survey (88%) stated that

they had been away from their home country for more than

two weeks. While away, the drivers’ ’home’ is their lorry. By liv-

ing in their lorries, the drivers break the rule that they must

not spend their regular weekly breaks in their lorries.

• 16% of the drivers stated that they were paid on the basis of

the number of kilometres they drove during a working day.

Such a pay system is not allowed under EU legislation. It may

reflect circumvention of the rules by letting drivers lease or

rent the lorries and work as ’false’ self-employed hauliers.

• 13% of the drivers stated that their employer exerted pressure

on them to make them break the rules on driving and resting

times.

• Between 14% and 45% of the drivers indicated various types of

rule breaches within a period of two weeks: non-compliance

with maximum driving hours and breach of other rules relat-

ing to driving and resting times.

• 4% stated that they had been in Denmark for more than seven

days (could suggest illegal cabotage operations).

COWI COMMENTS: When employers put pressure on driv-

ers to make them break resting time rules, it appears that

drivers are more likely to break the rules than they are when

their employers do not put such pressure on them. Of the

drivers whose employers put pressure on them, 32% actually

broke the rules. Of the drivers who DID NOT experience any

pressure on the part of their employers, 27% broke the rules

on driving and resting times.

Routine driving in North-western EuropeIllegal carriage of goods or systematic cabotage operations in

violation of rules and regulations? The 225 interviews with

Romanian, Bulgarian and Macedonian drivers do not lead to

any clear conclusions regarding definite breaches of the rules

on cabotage operations, ie the EU rules on the time foreign

lorries may drive in another EU member state and the num-

ber of transport operations they are allowed to carry out.

However, the drivers participating in the survey mainly

drove in Denmark, Germany and Sweden, to some extent in

France and the Netherlands, and to a lesser extent in other

countries. Only one driver stated that he also drove close to

his home country (one journey to Hungary).

43% of the drivers stated that the majority of their driving

was to and from Denmark.

This is a clear indication that Bulgarian, Romanian and

Macedonian drivers are routinely used for routine driving in

Denmark and the rest of North-western Europe. They perform

their work under Romanian, Bulgarian or Macedonian pay

and working conditions, which are very different from pay

levels and collective agreement conditions in Denmark and

North-western Europe, despite the fact that the drivers never

carry loads in their home countries.

This picture is further substantiated by the fact that 27%

of the drivers stated that they received instructions from

Denmark.

Several sets of rules can be applied relative to routine use of

foreign lorries and drivers:

• The EU Cabotage Regulation, which sets out rules on the

number of cabotage operations a foreign lorry may per-

form in another EU member state.

• The EU Directive on certain types of combined transport

of goods between member states, which contains provi-

sions about the possibility of posting foreign drivers to

perform transport operations in other EU member states

if the goods to be carried are delivered to or from a port

or a railway hub.

• EU legislation on international transport that allows driv-

ing in third countries, ie transport between two or more

EU member states that are not the home country of the

lorry and the driver.

• -The EU Posted Workers Directive and the provisions on

equal pay set out in the Rome Convention.

The first three sets of rules mentioned above are not only

applied individually, but also in combination. The result is

increased use of lorries and drivers from Bulgaria, Romania

and Macedonia in Denmark and North-western Europe.

Equal pay for equal work?Since he took office in 2014, European Commission President

Jean Claude Juncker has often talked about social dumping,

inappropriate use of labour and nationality-based discrim-

ination being a threat to the internal market in the EU. In

his recent State of the Union speech, Mr Juncker stated that

one of the fundamental principles of the European Union is

the requirement of equal pay for the same work in the same

place. Both Commissioner for Employment Marianne Thyssen

and Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc have expressed

the same opinion.

The survey clearly documents that the principle of equal

pay for equal work is not applied in relation to the drivers

Trailer lounge, autumn 2015working on the roads in Denmark and North-western Europe:

there is both unfair competition and nationality-based dis-

crimination in relation to the pay and working conditions of

the drivers.

Drivers from Bulgaria, Romania and the non-EU member

state Macedonia drive in Denmark and the rest of North-west-

ern Europe in equal competition with ’local’ drivers. How-

ever, they do so at only a third of the price (pay) or even less

– and also without driving in their home countries or their

own regions.

They thus de facto act as posted workers, but are not paid

or treated in compliance with the EU principle of equal pay

for equal work at the same place.

‘I am convinced that Europe will succeed only when its economy is

both strong and fair’….’I am taking concerns about potential cases of

abuse and risks of social dumping very seriously… ‘The same work at

the same place should be remunerated in the same manner’….

Jean Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission,

6 October 2015

Recommendations3F Transport and the Danish Transport and Logistics Asso-

ciation (DTL) represent workers and employers respectively

and are obviously not in full agreement about everything.

However, we agree that the documentation and the numbers

obtained in connection with the Byways in Danish Transport

survey give rise to serious concern. We are also in agreement

on working together to ensure fair competition, equal condi-

tions and good jobs.

We will therefore use the report and the information it

contains as a basis for discussion in 2016, both in debate in

Denmark and in debate in Europe where the EU is to review

the rules on the posting of workers and adopt a new mobil-

ity package and a road transport package over the next few

years.

3F Transport and DTL agree on the following recommenda-

tions.

Both the EU and national authorities in other countries

should be encouraged to conduct similar surveys to reveal

conditions in the transport sector and use the data collated

as a basis for recommendations concerning national and

EU legislation that needs to be adjusted or fundamentally

changed.

We need more than a simple service check on the Com-

bined Transport Directive, the cabotage rules and the rules

on the posting of workers. All the existing sets of rules have

glaring weaknesses because there are no controls or sanc-

tions. This is true both at the national level and in the Euro-

pean Union as a whole.

In our opinion, the report and the information and

conclusions contained in it are yet another clear signal that

social dumping and unfair competition constitute a serious

threat to the transport sector and the labour market in Eu-

rope. We would therefore like to see a more vigorous debate

in a number of fields, ranging from more rigid and more

clearly defined rules to better checks and stricter sanctions

that can have a deterrent effect on businesses that circum-

vent the rules.

Drivers in morning queue on Danish side road

Solutions should be discussed and devised at both nation-

al and EU level. There is a need to act fast. In recent years

Denmark, France, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria, the

Netherlands and Belgium have taken a number of different

national measures aimed at counteracting social dumping in

the transport sector. This trend will continue unless common

solutions are found.

Byways in Danish transportPay, working conditions and living standards of Bulgarian, Ro-

manian and Macedonian lorry drivers in Denmark and Western

Europe. A report on the free movement of labour in the transport

sector.

The questionnaire survey and statistical material on which this

booklet is based were prepared by COWI, and data was collected

with financial support from the Danish Working Environment

Authority.

The text was prepared by

3F Transport 4, Kampmannsgade DK, 1790 Copenhagen

DTL - Danish Transport and

Logistics Association (DTL)47, Grønningen 17DK, 1019 Copenhagen

www.fairtransport.dk og www.dtl.eu

International driver life in Denmark, autumn 2015